Historic Club Rego - Ups & Downs

[Big Rob]

That's what my club is worried about Dr Terry,

It seems that if a modified car is pulled up on historic plates, then the club and the relevant inspector is going to cop some backlash as well as the car owner. All the blokes in my club with their Rovers, Simcas, Peugeots, etc.... on club plates won't let that happen, so they are pretty strict about who gets plates.

Remember that it isn't really rego, it's a permit to drive a roadworthy, unregistered vehicle on public roads for club oriented activities.

[Dr Terry]

That's what my club is worried about Dr Terry,

It seems that if a modified car is pulled up on historic plates, then the club and the relevant inspector is going to cop some backlash as well as the car owner. All the blokes in my club with their Rovers, Simcas, Peugeots, etc.... on club plates won't let that happen, so they are pretty strict about who gets plates.

Remember that it isn't really rego, it's a permit to drive a roadworthy, unregistered vehicle on public roads for club oriented activities.

Totally agree Rob. If you are pulled up driving a 'modified' car on Historic concessional plates, you are technically not registered at all & the fines can be high (over $1,000). The car club can lose its RTA authority to issue HCRS rego & it's registrar can be held to account also.

Some car clubs are tough (sometimes too much so) & some clubs are far too lenient, but abuse of the system can only bring tears.

BTW, the 'new' system of HCRS in NSW is proper registration, unlike the old Vintage Car scheme which was just a permit to drive an unregistered car.

Dr Terry

[Big Rob]

Totally agree Rob. If you are pulled up driving a 'modified' car on Historic concessional plates, you are technically not registered at all & the fines can be high (over $1,000). The car club can lose its RTA authority to issue HCRS rego & it's registrar can be held to account also.

Some car clubs are tough (sometimes too much so) & some clubs are far too lenient, but abuse of the system can only bring tears.

BTW, the 'new' system of HCRS in NSW is proper registration, unlike the old Vintage Car scheme which was just a permit to drive an unregistered car.

Dr Terry

That's interesting that you say in NSW it is proper rego, as I was asking one of the ladies at the local RTA about why we still had a rego sticker and she said it was because Historic plates were just a permit. When was it changed?

[Dr Terry]

That's interesting that you say in NSW it is proper rego, as I was asking one of the ladies at the local RTA about why we still had a rego sticker and she said it was because Historic plates were just a permit. When was it changed?

It was changed from the permit scheme to the current concessional rego system around 8 years ago. At that time we changed from the old Vintage plates to the current (smaller) 'H' plates.

One of the things with the system is that is still manual, in other words unlike regular rego it can't be renewed online etc.

Another issue is the most RTA staff & police do not how to administer it. Ask 6 different RTA staff the same question & you will get 6 totally different answers. If in doubt ask for their ruling in writing or check out the RTA website, It's not very difficult.

Dr Terry